Workplace Guides: Straight Allies

Straight Allies: How to help create gay-friendly workplaces

Straight people have a critical role to play in creating gay-friendly workplaces. Stonewall Top 100 employers routinely tell us that 'straight allies' have been key to advancing fair treatment of their lesbian, gay and bisexual staff.

Forward:

Straight people have a critical role to play in creating gay-friendly workplaces. Stonewall Top 100 employers routinely tell us that 'straight allies' have been key to advancing fair treatment of their lesbian, gay and bisexual staff. Their involvement - often precisely because they're not gay themselves - can have a transformative effect on the culture of an organisation and the workplace experience of staff, both gay and straight.

It's clear that across Britain the vast majority of employees want their workplaces to be gay-friendly. YouGov polling of over 2,000 heterosexuals, commissioned by Stonewall, found that nine in ten support legal protections against homophobic discrimination at work. Many of Stonewall's 'Diversity Champions' - the 600 major employers we work with - and their heterosexual employees still tell us, however, that they're sometimes unsure how, as straight people, they can help make this a reality.

This guide is designed to show what some of these straight allies - from the Second Sea Lord to a managing director of Goldman Sachs - do, what inspires them to do it and, most important, what other straight people can also do to make their workplaces more gay-friendly. We're grateful to all those who shared their experiences with us. Their example clearly shows that everyone can play a role in creating workplaces where all staff, regardless of sexual orientation, can perform to the best of their ability.